http://www.sites.google.com/view/zionogden

Zion Lutheran Ogden IA, 319 W Elm Street, Ogden, IA (2026)

06/01/2026

Scripture & a Prayer
John 17:17

Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.

Dear Heavenly Father:

Your wisdom created earth, stars, and all things and creatures. We praise you as our perfect God and without fault. You alone have authority to declare and establish eternal truth, which you have done. Help us to trust your Word as truth against those forces and powers that seek to wrest truth to their own imperfect design. Guide us today in the truth of Christ Jesus as Savior and Lord, who has taken away the sin of the world and restored the Kingdom to all who believe! Amen.

06/01/2026

"The Holy Trinity!"

Dear Devotion-ers:

There are things that disrupt the peace that God brings. One of them is human reason and those who govern their lives with logic, don’t understand it. One of those God facts they won’t understand is the Holy Trinity or why we as a church celebrate it. Even if they understand the concept of God, they don’t get one God in three distinct persons. It’s confusing to us creatures. We don’t get it and we can’t get it by strength of reason. That mystical union of Three in One that governs everything is hard to grasp by figuring it out, in fact the math doesn’t work. Three in One? It’s impossible. It can only be understood by a particular cause and effect. The cause is faith, and the effect is we trust that what God says simply is.

Throughout history, the Trinity has been a source of contest, with minds trying to wrap human truth around God’s truth of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, all only One! It was disputed in Luther’s time. In one of his sermons, he preached about the nature of the Trinity.

Here you must soar high above all reason, leaving all creatures far below, and must swing yourself up and listen only to what God says of Himself, and of His innermost being. In no other way can we know this. And there God’s folly and the world’s wisdom clash. ”Therefore we should not dispute about how it can be that God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are One God, for it is by its very nature beyond all reason, but it should be enough for us that God speaks thus about Himself and reveals Himself thus in His Word.

This is God’s nature, which He himself puts forward throughout the Scripture. His Word is the cause, and the effect in you and me should simply be to trust it as absolutely so. Explain it? No. Trust it? Youbettcha!

Luther did trust it and he preached that trust against the frailties of human reason. He said, “I know very well that in God there are the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; but how they can be one I do not know, neither should I know it."

Faithfully accepting what God says as true closes the door on reason’s consternation, fear, worry, doubt. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, One God? Truth! (because God says it is so!)

Matthew 28:19
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

Discussion

Reason uses tools like science, math, experience to identify and explain truth. How do you logically use these things to teach life truths?
Can you use any of those to explain God's truth? Hmmm…..
God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, are one!

Pastor Max

05/31/2026

Trinity Sunday

05/29/2026

Scripture & a Prayer
Isaiah 40:29-31

He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.

Dear Heavenly Father:

You have unlimited energy and your love is boundless. Ours is not. We get worn out. We get selfish. Help us to find in Your Son, our Lord, Your passion for this life and our neighbor that we might joyfully serve and fully love. In Jesus! Amen.

05/29/2026

Every Other FriDAVE: "I'm Worn Out!"

Dear Devotion-ers:

It’s 5:30 on Friday morning. Just woke up and more than the sun dawning is the fact that something else dawned on me. I forgot to write a devotion for Pastor Max. I feel I’ve put myself in that old saying, “my mind has written checks that my body can no longer cash”. Seems to be a common occurrence, especially at my age. You think I’d learned from that, but I just keep pushing the envelope. I do have a driving force behind those moments.

It usually doesn’t take my mind long to ask a question, “what kept Jesus going“? His life was full of moments when he could’ve just quit. There was always one more person to heal or one more disciple to talk down off their roof of emotions. All of them were one more step closer to the cross. There was no ‘give up’ in that man. And it was all because He had the driving force of the Father‘s love and the promise from that Father that he would not lose one of us.

So if Jesus could do all that for us. Why can’t I just bend over and pick up one rock out there out of that field? And if you want something that’s a little more heavy, why can’t I tell one more person about that love? It is the Pentecost season when it’s made very clear that the spirit of God has descended upon the church of Jesus. So quit feeling worn out Dave and realize the great quest that I’ve been called to, just like you, to let this world know about our loving God.

Matthew 8:24-25

And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.”

Discussion:

Have you experienced ‘writing checks your body can’t cash?’
Does it give you perspective on the suffering of our Lord?
God is good and Jesus suffers it all willingly…for you!

Dave

05/28/2026

"Pentecost Fires!"

Dear Devotion-ers:

I am fascinated by fire. Have been since I was a kid. In my Boy Scout troop, my nickname was ‘firebug.’ Some of my most thrilling experiences were serving on a rural fire department. And parts of the Bible that deal with fire spark my attention. The Pentecost account of the disciples speaking the gospel in strange languages is cool, but that God used fire to make his point is way better still.

There are lots of fires in the Old Testament. God stood His post over Israel on the night watch by a massive flaming pillar. Moses encountered God in a fiery bush (that didn’t burn). The three Jews who defied a king and were sentenced to death by burning in a seven times hotter fiery furnace, stood calm and cool because the angel of the Lord was in the fire with them. Fire also had its place in the Temple where on the bronze altar the priests were commanded to keep a perpetual fire, never to go out. All of these were single fires. Some imperial like that pillar over Israel, some raging like the furnace, some a gentle prairie fire in the unburning bush. Some took work, like the fire burning in the Temple. And then comes that day when the disciples are blessed with the promised Holy Spirit and God makes a fiery point.

The Spirit is coming to live with us. No longer will God be accessible in only one place. Those divided tongues of fire coming to rest on heads symbolize what was being done, God coming to live with and in men. It was the hot minute exclamation point for everyone watching then and now. God the Spirit burns in hearts of believers everywhere, everyday of every time with His unquenchable fire marking them as one of His own, a Redeemed of God.

A Bible Twofer:

Hebrews 12:29
“For our God is a consuming fire.”

Acts 2:1-3
"When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them."

Discussion:

Do you have a love or hate relationship with fire?
How do we use fire in our worship services? Why? Should we do more or less? Hmm….
God is good and Jesus burns in hearts of faith!

Pastor Max

05/27/2026

Scripture & a Prayer
Psalm 104:33

I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praise to my God while I have being.

Dear Heavenly Father:

We lift our voices in prayer and praise you for the special gift of conversation. We engage with each other with information, humor and heart, and receive the same in return. Our voice wavers with sadness and sings with joy. Help us to lift our voices to you, singing your praises with hearts of joy. In Jesus, we live and sing! Amen!

05/27/2026

"Things A Pastor Wishes Someone Would Ask?!"

Dear Devotion-ers:

Things the Pastor wishes someone would ask…. like is it okay not to sing in church? Now, there’s a good one.

Ah-hem. Hmm…. Glad you asked. No, it is not okay not to sing in church.

As a pastor, I notice things looking out in the congregation and the folks that stick out the most, are the ones who silently sit there, zombie like while the church praises God all around them. It’s a bit unnerving. I’ve done some informal research on this and the majority answer is the melodic quality of the singer prohibits singing. “Oh, pastor, not even God would want to hear me sing.” Really? Come on, man (and it’s mostly men)!

After some exhausting research, I can’t find a single example in the Bible where God excluded some from singing on account of tone deafness. Not a single time is there ever a record of God wincing and putting a wiggling finger in ear to clear out a voice like a bad tuna (or tune-a…see what I did there?). To not sing because of a concern that I can’t sing, severely diminishes God, and for two good reasons.

First. There are a very few things needed to sing praise to the Lord. Voice, song, and the most important thing, heart. God doesn’t look for your ability to master scales, to hear the harmonizing, or make majestic the piece, he listens for the heart. Now, as you might guess, heartless singing is just as bad as silent singing, except that…

Except that…Second. We are commanded time and again to make a joyful noise. Notice God doesn’t require a perfect noise. Hmm….

I’ve been told that God doesn’t want to hear certain folk’s singing because it is bad. I doubt it is as bad as portrayed, but even if it is, I have no doubt that God does indeed want to hear it. Does anyone really think that God, who made this body, who knows your abilities better than you, who died to save you, doesn’t have the exact spot in his heart for your voice? Remember, it’s not the tone, it’s the heart-felt groan. God wants and needs to hear every heart bursting into song, no matter your opinion of the woof, grate, or restricted range, all sweet to the Lord, and all part of the congregation’s one praising voice. To not have a singer, lessens all the rest.

And woe to anyone who teaches their children not to sing by their own example. I can’t imagine the Lord is happy with that. Just sayin’.

Finally, I'm just sayin' it straight out. There is no place in heaven for non-singers. Scripture gives a vivid picture of Zion entering heaven with .....singing. Not a single silent zombie marching in in that crowd.

So… should I sing in church? You got a voice? You got a heart? You been saved? You love the Lord? Sing it bro! (and it’s mostly men!)

Thanks for asking! :)

Isaiah 51:11
And the ransomed of the LORD shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

Discussion:

The Bible is full of songs. Who knew?
How would worship be different if there was no music and no singing?
God is good and Jesus is our song!

Pastor Max

05/26/2026

"Talk Amongst Yourselves!"

Dear Devotion-ers:

Telling Others What He Has Done!

Have you ever been in a one-sided conversation? It makes no difference if the talker espouses great knowledge on subjects galore or a litany of ‘ain’t-it-awfuls,’ the conversation soon becomes monotonous and boring, (unless it’s me, of course, doing the talking. 😊) Sometimes our worship is that way, but never by design.

God has endowed the church with a blessed conversation in worship. We use liturgy to listen and respond to God. We sing hymns (or at least some of us do) to put a new level of passion into our conversation with the Almighty that only singing can do. But there’s room for more conversation. Who knew?

If you are a fan of the old Saturday Night Live programs, there was a running skit called “Coffee Talk” which featured over-the-top talk show hosts who always had emotional moments where they became ‘verklempt’ (overcome with emotion and unable to talk). These were hilarious moments, in which the host would always invite the viewers to ‘talk amongst yourselves.’ God does that!

In the Pentecost observances established by God for His church in Deuteronomy, each farmer is invited to come and bring a first fruit tithe offering. A time of rejoicing and remembering followed, which featured prayers, singing of psalms, and even shouting (of Psalm 118:15-17, 22-23). No one sat around stone-faced, or merely watched, with a faux excuse of somehow only wanting to listen to God. If that’s what we do, it’s a poor connection to be sure.

A significant part of our Christian strengthening is the invitation that God gives us to ‘talk amongst ourselves.’ Not of the weather, sports, nor the problems of our neighbor. Our conversations burst out of worship and show the ‘rejoicing and remembering’ that each of us have been given blessing upon blessing. And if you have a hard time figuring out where to start that conversation, start at the beginning, your baptism.

God is a good lecturer. He is a also a great conversationalist!

Psalm 118:17
“I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the Lord!”

Discussion:

How does your worship incorporate a time of ‘rejoicing and remembering?’ Ever try shouting the passage above? 😊
How does your personal ‘rejoicing and remember’ add to your Christ witness?
God is good and Jesus is the church’s conversation!

Pastor Max

05/26/2026

Scripture & a Prayer
Mark 5:19

“And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”

Dear Heavenly Father:

We praise you for the gifts of voices and language. There are so many things to talk to others about, though often we don’t shape our speaking into conversations with You, O Lord. Enliven our prayers, strengthen our witness, fill our hearts to overflowing with thanksgiving for You to others. Fill our telling what you have done with joy and remembrance. In Jesus, Amen!

Zion Lutheran Ogden IA

06/01/2026

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05/31/2026

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